“Greece has completed 60% of the demanded reforms, it negotiates on another 20%, while another 20% is pending.” That’s the findings the Troika is writing on its Greek report, in an exclusive story of German weekly DER SPIEGEL. The representatives of Greece’s lenders write wonderful things like automatic increase of taxes, further cuts in minimum wage (currently 580 euro gross), easy dismissals of labour forces.

The Troika proposals are so awesome that one wishes there was a real war, where the citizens of this country would be allowed to fight a real resistance war against these modern occupation forces. Sorry for the patriotic inconvenience but I’m under the influence of the OXI-Day celebrations when Greece denied access to the Axis Forces in 1940.

“If the reforms will be implemented, there will be an automatic increase of taxes”.

The report foresees also the necessity of a new ‘haircut’ and considers to give to Greek government the desired two-year extension to meet fiscal targets. The cost of this extension is estimated 30 billion euro by European Commission and European Central Bank, or 38 billion euro according to International Monetary Fund. But as we know, all IMF-estimations have proven to be a big and sound failure.

“International auditors will demand Greece carry out a further 150 reforms to its recession-battered economy and suggest holders of Greek debt take a further hit, German newsweekly Spiegel has reported.

Citing an interim version of the findings of the troika of creditors, Spiegel said Athens would get an extra two years to carry out the reforms in its program but this delay would cost billions of euros.

Greece has completed 60 per cent of the reforms already demanded of it, the report says, according to Spiegel. A further 20 per cent are being debated by the Greek government, while the rest are outstanding.

Among the additional reforms demanded are a loosening of the hiring-and-firing laws, changes to the minimum-wage rules and a lifting of certain professional privileges, Spiegel said.

The report also suggests that creditors including other eurozone countries take a “haircut”, or write-off, on some of their holdings of Greek debt, meaning taxpayers would be funding the bailout.

The European Central Bank (ECB) would not write off its holding of Greek debt because this would amount to financing Greece, which is strictly forbidden, Spiegel reported.

But the ECB – which is part of the troika along with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union – is prepared to forgo profits on its Greek debt holding, the weekly said.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble dismissed the idea of a further haircut for Greece as unrealistic.

“That is a discussion which has little to do with the reality in the member states of the eurozone,” he told German radio station Deutschlandfunk. However, he suggested that Greece could buy back some of its debt at lower prices from bond holders.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has said Greece’s coffers will be empty in mid-November. Spiegel said the long-awaited report would be published on November 12 at the latest.

The interim report was presented on Thursday to officials in Brussels, who are preparing the next meeting of eurozone finance ministers, expected to take place by teleconference.” (sources: SPIEGEL /GER AFP/ENG TO VIMA /GR)

Wolfgang Schaeuble indeed insists among others on the establishment of an escrow-account and halt of the bailout (loan) payments to Greece in case the debt-ridden country does not comply with the bailout agreements, commitments and reforms.

Of course, Greek governments will keep agreeing on reforms and implement less in order not to break up with its voters and at the end, we, taxpayers will keep handing out our last worn out trousers to the country’s lenders. Also to the 300 MPs in the Parliament,to elected and non-elected ministers – incl. former prime ministers, ministers and presidents who still enjoy several privileges.

PS Some Greeks have the feeling they’re POWS in an undeclared war… But POW is not the correct word, because POW are normally fed and protected, according to international conventions.

2 Comments so far:

We all have to face the fact that the EU has become a horrible place for our country. Why are we still playing the EU’s games? Why are we so afraid of taking our future into our own hands? This is an important question for Oct. 28. Our ancestors did not fear standing up to superior military power in 1940. Why are WE afraid to stand up to a corrupt and anti-democratic technocracy? It’s a bad joke.

Certain European fanatics like Wolfgang Schauble and Mario Draghi have basically declared economic war on us. They are creating new demands everyday in the hopes that sooner or later, the Greek people will say “ENOUGH!” and decide to leave the EU.

The irony is that this is the best thing for us to do! It’s true that Schauble, Draghi, and all the others will “win” if we leave the EU, but at least we’ll have our country back. We won’t have to accept foreign technocrats telling us to destroy vineyards because “we have too many”, or preventing us from saving our airlines because it will “create a monopoly”, or insisting we sell our state assets to anyone who isn’t Greek.

And even more importantly, we won’t have to pretend to be “partners” with countries that sell weapons to Turkey to point in our direction.

I used to love the EU, but somewhere along the way it became an extension of Germany. At the moment, Greece is the biggest target of this new imperialism, but this phenomenon will spread and the EU will eventually collapse.

Greece will be here long after that happens, and it’s up to us to figure out what kind of country it will be.

“Why are we so afraid of taking our future into our own hands?” that’s the point, Jason. who are We? who will govern Greece once it’s out form EU & euro? most probably the same ones that have ruined the coutnry all these years.